December 20th, 1973
Intro Part One It's the night of December 20th, 1973. Each of you has had heard rumor of a place in Los Angeles where other people like you are gathering. A night club called the Candy Castle. You all enter pretty easily, the doorman is a tall, muscular man with a tag on his shirt that says 'Max'. The inside of the club is loud and busy, even for a Thursday night. Nvalt (Nightmare): nice attention to detail Pulse tries to bring Milou in. Skin elbows Patty when they get inside, taking a deep breath. "I'm home!" His grin comes easily as he looks around for familiar faces. Or pretty ones. Pogo spends her time dancing and trying to score (drugs, anyway) Pulse definitely tries to bring Milou in. Pogo is wearing something that might be called clothing, or alternatively a napkin Maximo looks iffy about letting a dog in but acquiesces. Nightmare rolls her eyes slightly at Oscar with a small smile as she surveys the club, looking for anyone who stands out as "special" or important. Skin: Y'wanna drink? Oh- Uh, got any money? Ikiryo: Ikiryo stands around, arms folded, looking a little bit like a SQUARE. Skin pats his pockets down for like, thirty seconds. "Ahah! Nevermind. Got it." Pulse has jeans, tennis shoes, and a striped tee on. He seems oddly comfortable in this environment, despite being dressed like a total square. Pulse also has a bigass dog with him. Dog is real big. As the night progresses, each of you are pulled away from whatever it is you're doing and invited into a private room in the back to talk with the club's owner. It doesn't seem like there's any danger in going back there. In fact, a crowd is growing back there. Pulse brings Milou with him. Nightmare gives Oscar a stern look before shaking her head. "Nothing strong. Don't cause trouble, okay?" Skin: Hey! Don't worry about me, primita. You stay out of trouble, alright?- Skin does his thing until they're whisked away. Nightmare eventually heads to the back with the rest of the crowd. When she spots the dog, she gives it a weird look but pays it no mind for now. She looks around at the others gathered. Pogo senses there may be booze Nightmare also makes sure to stay close to Oscar, more for his own safety than hers. Pulse seems to be paying a lot of attention to peoples' faces. Pogo goes along to this back room, because it's got to be where the people with good junk hang out Pogo looks at Milou and shouts over any possible music or other noise, "Oo, at'sa nice dag. Hay good dag, howyou?" Pulse squints at Pogo, clearly confused by something. The doors are shut behind as the last person enters. The whole crowd looks nervous. A pretty woman with red hair in a tight fitting black dress is on a small stage adjusting a microphone. Nightmare is attentive. Joanie: Test, test. Can you hear me fine in the back? Good. Skin tries to chat up some girl. "So I said to him, 'Officer man, you can't keep me down!' and I slapped him and ran for it. Got away, too. Pretty cool, right?"- He stops smiling and looks towards the stage. Ikiryo continues to watch all the cool kids get taken into the private room, before following in last. He eyes the woman carefully. Nightmare gives the woman a thumbs up, as though her feedback was important. Pulse turns and faces the direction everyone else is facing. Pogo looks in the other direction, then finally at the stage. Pulse is taking notes in his brain. The woman Skin is flirting with doesn't seem to speak English. A sharply dressed man who looks to be in his thirties with blonde hair makes his way up to the stage. He's followed by a black man in a suit that looks like it's been through the ringer lately. Boost: Welcome, ladies and gents. You can call me Boost. This is my partner, Sonny. A few of you may know him. We're trying to keep real names to a minimum here as we're not quite sure who we can trust as of yet. Keep that in mind. Nightmare hits Skin lightly on his arm and gestures for him to pay attention. Pulse squints a bit, trying to catch all that. Skin draws a zipper across his mouth and breaks the 'seal' to grin at her. Sun Ra is staring off into the crowd. Even with a spotlight directly facing him, his eyes are a nebulous void of darkness at the moment. Not comforting. Nightmare folds her arms and listens. She catches herself staring at the guy with JET BLACK eyes. Pogo looks like she's not really paying attention. Skin catches this too. "Man, look at his eyes. That's freaky." Pulse rubs Milou's head. Boost: Right. So, why are we here you may ask? We're here because though the whole world may have seen a bit of what happened a few months ago, we saw quite a bit more. Each of us were changed that day. Sonny and I have been working tirelessly to get everyone we could here safe. Strength in numbers and all that. Do we have any questions to start with? I'm sure you're all very curious. Nightmare shushes Oscar out of habit, then later adds, "...Yeah." Skin 's hand shoots up. "What the heck happened, anyway?" He calls out. Milou is looking at Sonny. He looks happy to see him again. Pulse raises a hand, a moment after. Nightmare glances at Oscar. Nightmare raises her hand after that. Boost: As near as we can tell, we all bore witness to some kind of...cosmic event. I'm not all clear on the details myself. But I can speak pretty expertly on the after-effects. Sun Ra 's eyes turn back to a sane color. He points to Pulse. "Go ahead, kid." Pulse clears his throat, and speaks with a very odd-but-clear accent. "If anyone else here is deaf, I can interpret you for them." Sun Ra smiles. "Why don't you stand by me then, Robert?" Sonny gestures for Pulse to join him onstage. Pogo can be seen leaning against the wall nearby, her hair hanging over her face so it's hard to see if she's getting any of this. Boost points to Nightmare next. Nightmare lowers her arm, "Why us? Why were we the only ones affected?" Skin looks around, trying to see if he recognizes any faces from the Event. Pulse shimmies through the crowd, standing between the two gentlemen. He watches them both and signs the following question and their response. Just in case anyone else is deaf, really. Pogo stirs, heading over to where Max is working at the bar Boost: It might have been random for all we know. Maybe it's a ... genetic? We're not sure. Skin: Was it aliens? Skin is just calling out now. Nightmare elbows Skin. Maximo looks at Pogo like 'Are you kidding me?' but then shrugs. "How old are you, girl?" Skin BOUNCES HER BLOW OFF LIKE MR. FANTASTIC. Pulse: Oh. There were two big silhouettes there. Did anyone else see them? Skin but not really. Ikiryo raises his own hand, looking at Skin as he is RUDE. Baka Gaijin. Pulse: I remember I saw all of you. And... them. And something else. Nightmare nods and calls out, "Yes! And a huge face." Pulse says this in response to Skin, apparently, still signing the whole way. Skin: Whuh-huh? Pogo just stares at Max Pogo doesn't blink, and she just doesn't blink Someone else in the crowd yells out. "IT'S A SIGN FROM GOD!" Maximo: Okay. Miss Privacy. What you want? Pulse nudges Sonny. "That old lady did think we were angels." Skin: SHE might be an angel, but eh! Nightmare absently clutches the small crucifix around her neck at the mention of God. Skin points a thumb at Patty, then shrugs. Pogo puts money down on the bar, "Whasat get?" It's not much money. Pogo is very religious, but also very distracted Nightmare glances at Oscar and shakes her head at his remark. Sun Ra: It might have been a lot of things. We don't have all the facts yet. But the more we can put our heads together, the better a chance we have of figuring it out. From what we have so far, we all definitely saw the same thing. So there's that much. Pulse signs. Maximo slides the money back to her. "It's on house tonight. We all friends here." This guy seems alright. Helena: except for the part where he sells booze to minors Pogo puts the money back in her bra, and points to whiskey Nightmare raises her hand again. She continues to clutch her crucifix. Skin: So now what? Maximo pours her a whiskey and hands it off. "Don't drink too fast." Skin crosses his arms to get serious. Is he flexing in his jacket? Pogo stares behind the bar for a second at something, then downs the whiskey in one go. Boost: Well, if you'd like. I can set those of you who came a long way to get here with a place to stay. I think it's important we stay together. It's only a matter of time before wind of this hits the public. And who knows what that'll do to the way people treat us. Sun Ra: If we're entrenched in an area and we cover each other's backs. We have a better foot to stand on. Nightmare lowers her hand and folds her arms. Skin: Man, what are they gonna do? Nightmare: A lot of things. Nightmare gives Oscar a stern look. Boost looks at Skin incredulously. "Do you need me to lay it out for you?" Skin: Eh! I'm alright. Skin shrugs, deciding to go with the flow. Boost: I'm not going to pretend like we're the law around here. But if you want to stick around here and not have a problem. We have a few rules. Sun Ra: Stay under the radar. Very important. Don't get in trouble with the law. If we don't give them a reason to hate us, if we get found out. We'll have a good place to bargain from. Pogo goes over, stopping somewhere near Nightmare. Nightmare glances at the movement as she listens. Pulse pauses a moment, before translating the idiosyncratic expression into sign language. Boost: Tell anyone you need to about your new...abilities. You all obviously have loved ones who need to know about these things. But keep in mind, everyone you tell is one more person in on the secret. And a secret's not really a secret after a certain point, is it? Skin glances at Patty when they mention telling people. The look on his face says he's not for it. Nightmare shares his glance and his sentiment. She turns her attention back to the stage. Sun Ra: Last but not least. Look out for each other. Our best bet is to be a tight knit community. It won't be easy but we have a chance here to do some good. Skin mutters. " Okay, man. Now what?" Boost: If any of you needs anything. At all. You can come to myself or Sonny here and we will bend over backwards to accomodate you. With that in mind, there is one last thing we feel you all should be aware of. Boost: A few of you have run into some very shady gentlemen. As near as we can tell someone out there is trying to round people like us up. They could be from the government or...from anywhere really. If you know anything, we could sure use the intel. If you see anyone following you or you even have the sneaking suspicion of it. Come back here, we can protect you. Pogo looks at Boost with a dull expression Nightmare looks concerned. She tries to remember if she's noticed anything out of the ordinary like that. Skin raises his hand again. Yay! "What if it's just the police? They do that here y'know." He grins, but it's bitter. Nightmare glances at Skin but doesn't admonish him this time. It was true, and she shared his bitter expression briefly. Boost: Well we're not talking about cops here. Just don't rile the police. The LAPD are bad enough when you haven't done anything. Ikiryo stiffens slightly, pursing his lips in thought. Sun Ra: Amen to that. Nightmare remembers NOTHING. Pulse glances at Boost and Sonny with this cop talk, moreso than how he's watching them to signlate. Sun Ra looks at Pulse knowingly and follows it up with a nod. "I've run into them in person. They are armed to the teeth and mean as all hell." Nightmare furrows her brow. She clearly didn't like the sound of that. Boost: All that said, you're free to come and go here as you please. We're open all hours and either Max back there or someone else will be watching our doors. Pulse nods at Sonny, after a quiet exchange with him. Skin mutters low enough so that only the people right around them can hear. Like Pogo. Friggin' pogo. Only problem? It's in SPANISH. Maximo is wiping the bar. There's a little girl there with him reading a book. Max waves to the people. Pogo looks at Skin like she's not sure whether that was directed at her Nightmare glances at Skin and replies. IN SPANISH. Pulse watches Nightmare and Skin -=very carefully=-, as if he understands what they're saying (he doesn't). Some of the people in the room look a little peeved at the lack of answers and start to file out. Most have started to mingle or head for the bar. There's an uncomfortable atmosphere in the room. Pogo looks between Nightmare and Skin blankly Skin: C'mon, let's get drinks.- Boost: If anyone is interested. I've got a bit of a job that needs doing. Come see me if you want to help. Nightmare: Okay. Pulse: I'll help. Skin notices Pogo. He puts on his charm face. "Hola, pretty lady. Wanna get a drink?" He seems eager for drinking, less eager for work. Pulse said this to him directly, since he's right there. Sun Ra pats Pulse on the back. "What'd I tell ya about this kid?" Sun Ra: A go-getter. Pogo happens to be standing nearby, she might be confused for part of the crowd that volunteered Ikiryo immediately makes his way over to Boost, no patience for mingling apparently. "I will help." Boost turns off the microphone and signals for those interested to come close. "Somebody is missing. I think he may be in trouble." Nightmare looks over at those gathering. She furrows her brow and appears conflicted about going over there. She stays near the bar for now. Skin: Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Maximo is at the bar with a little girl that looks like his kid. He smiles at Skin and Nightmare. "What I get for you?" Nightmare: Um. Just a coke. Pulse: What can you tell us about him? Skin puts his hands in his pocket. "Sorry big guy, not right now." He marches on over to the volunteering group. Pulse has a peculiar way of speaking: he always looks directly at whoever he's speaking to, as if they have his full attention in that moment. And they do, because he's deaf. Maximo slides a cold coke in a glass bottle to Nightmare. "Have a nice night, pretty lady." Nightmare grits her teeth as Oscar walks away. She looks between he and Max several times before taking her drink and heading towards the group. Nightmare stands in the back, like she's only half-committed. Pogo looks oddly thoughtful, like she may sneeze Boost: Most of us, it seems, can pass for normal in day to day life. The poor soul we're looking for can't. He's got a bit of a... Sun Ra: Body hair problem. And an inclination towards feral behaviour now. We've been keeping him safe here but he got away a few nights ago and we're worried he might have fallen on old habits. Maximo comes over to the crowd of volunteers. Pulse: Got away. Old habits. Skin can't keep the incredulous expression off his face. Yo. What. Nightmare glances at Pulse, then at his dog. Pulse rubs Milou's neck. Good boy. Boost: He bites people. Our missing friend. Nightmare wrinkles her nose at that. Skin: Is this guy some kinda wolf man or something? Boost: He's never done more than that since we've known him but there's been news stories lately of people being attacked near here. Ikiryo pulls a bit of a face. "You do not think he is responsible for his action?" Sun Ra nods to Skin. "More or less. Clive is a gentle person but he's having trouble adjusting." Skin: Maaaan. Pulse: You want us to retrieve him before anyone else does. Skin: you're kidding, right? Boost pats Pulse on the back again. "Smart boy. If the police catch him, he's as good as dead." Nightmare: Or someone else. Nightmare chews her lip. Boost: If we can find him, he'll talk to us and we can bring him back where he's not a danger to himself or anyone else. Pogo: Grabbin some show I dunno, anyway? Pogo sits down on a table, looking at the others like that made sense. Boost frowns at Pogo. Nightmare looks at Pogo. She looks embarassed that she didn't understand. Skin: Okay, okay. Fuck. Okay. Fine. What do we get? We get something for helping out, right? Nightmare rolls her eyes at Skin. Sun Ra: You get to help a human being in need. Pulse tries to decipher Pogoese. He speaks this language, doesn't he? DOESN'T HE?!? Sun Ra looks pissed off that he'd even ask that. Nightmare smacks Skin in the back of the head, hard, then comes a bit closer to the stage. She glares at him. "Don't be like that, dummy." Skin: holds his hands up. "Calm down, man! It's just... Y'know. Life is hard. Fine. No problem. Okay." Skin doesn't even look like he felt it. A second later, he says "Ouch!" He's not a good actor. Right now, at least. Boost: If you need a job. I can get you work. If you came here for a payday though, you're in the wrong place. Nightmare: Where was he seen last? Skin: I get you, I get you. This place is cooler than where I'm working anyway. Skin looks around, nodding in approval. Boost waves to a girl outside of the circle. "Joanie, get me the map." He orders her around in that typical alpha male fashion. Joanie gets the map and plunks it down on the stage. Sonny unfolds it and draws a circle on it in red pen. "He's gone up to the hills. It's probably instinct. He doesn't seem to go far." Nightmare nods. Skin: Let's go get him then and get it over with. Patty, stay here and let us handle it. Pogo: Go? Where? Pogo is oddly coherent Maximo: To look for the fucking teen wolf. Nightmare glares at Oscar. "I'm coming along." Maximo said that super serious. Pogo: ...Where? Nightmare: The hills. Maximo: Hollywood Hills. Its tourist spot really. Pogo has heavily lidded eyes behind her shades, like she's half asleep. Nightmare nods, gesturing to Max. Pogo: Oh, yeah, course Pulse is somewhat rapidly looking between people as they speak. This is the most active conversation he's been part of for years..! doomfunk (Pulse): also there are GIRLS here Maximo: Sonny, you give me van. I drive. You need rest, man. Pulse seems to have just realized: a) what Pogo is wearing, b) where she is sitting. Pulse knows everything Skin looks at Byron. "So... He likes you, right?" Pogo has no victoria secrets Pulse fights to tear his eyes away. Boost: We get along well enough. He trusts me. Nightmare approaches Pulse and Milou, "Hi, is this your dog? He's so beautiful." She squats and starts to pet Milou and talk to him in a babby voice. Skin 's body goes slightly amorphous before turning into a spitting image of Boost. He flashes him a grin and speaks with his voice. "Think this'll do, boss?" Maximo: Well. Fuck. Me. Pulse fights to find his voice, then nods, still glancing periodically at Pogo. "I... yes, his name is Milou. He's a good boy." Then Skin turns into someone else and he furrows his brow, considering what's happened. Boost looks mortified for a moment and then impressed. "That...is really something." Ikiryo watches Skin, eyes going a bit wide. We don't have those in Japan. Pulse concludes Skin is not too dangerous to live. Skin: Don't worry about a thing. I've got you right covered, see? Nightmare looks back, rising and noticing two Byrons. She furrows her brow like a disappointed mother but says nothing. Pogo blinks, then hops down off the table, heading over to the bar like she didn't just see Skin become Boost Skin even laughs like him before going amorphous again to look like his old self. "Okay. I call shotgun." Pogo tries to ferret away the bottle of whiskey from before. Boost frowns. "I don't talk like that, do I?" He looks at Sonny for validation. Pogo hides that whiskey in a bag she has, because there's not enough clothes on her to conceal it otherwise Pulse: Hey. Pulse waves at Skin. Pogo steals that whole bottle of whiskey. The little girl at the bar sees her but doesn't seem to care. Pulse: Anyone who knows him will be able to tell you aren't him very fast. Massima winks. "I don't tell anyone." Pogo avoids the child, heading back over to the others, "Gotta goo, yah?" Pulse: I don't know him, and I can tell. Skin: Nah! Man, you should see it. Works all the time. Pulse says this with such earnestness, like he really wants you to be better at this shapeshifting thing, man. Skin is too confident for the truth. Boost looks reassured by what Pulse is saying. "I'm coming anyway. It's a big van." Nightmare: No it doesn't. You stopped being able to fool aunty weeks ago. Nightmare nudges Skin. Pogo: Van? Whosgotta van? Skin: Ay! Fine. Whatever. Skin: I've got a van. We're not talking about my van, right? Pulse: Oh. We do too. We took it from some bad people. Skin: Because I'm definitely driving if we are. Nightmare: I hope not. It's filthy. Nightmare grins slightly. Maximo: Alright. Lets get going. I drive. Gumby, you ride up front with me. Nightmare laughs, "Gumby." Maximo leads the charge out the door and to the parking lot. He pats his daughter on the head on his way out. Skin: Aww yeah. Wait, aww no! Pulse: Will there be room for Milou..? Skin climbs in, checking out the interior in lazy judgement. Boost: Should be lots of room but ah...dogs might make him skittish. Ikiryo follows the man, smiling politely before hoppin' on in, keeping quiet the whole time. Pulse rubs Milou's chin and neck. "Can he stay somewhere? He's very good." Nightmare will take the central most seat on the van, whichever puts her the closest to everyone else. Sun Ra: I'll look after him, kid. I promise. Massima: Me too! Me too! Pulse: He knows hand signals better. Skin looks around at those coming in the van. "So who the heck are you guys?" Pulse quickly demonstrates how he gets Milou to stay, sit, follow. The inside of the van is strewn with a lot of strange junk. There looks to be some kind of complicated police radio-looking device integrated into one side of the van. The other is a bunch of empty racks that looks like they used to have weapons in them. Pulse ducks out to the van once he's sure his dog won't explode in Sonny's and Girl's care. (Shortly) Milou looks content to stay here if he has to. The little girl seems like a dog person. Pogo goes out around the same time Pulse does. She says something to them while they're leaving, to the back of his head. doomfunk (Pulse): rolling for Sense Vibration Ikiryo sets his jaw, picking up a weird looking mask from the floor. He stares at it real good and hard, holidng it tightly. Helena: you picked out about half of what she said Pulse turns around and walks backwards for a moment, looking very sincerely at Pogo: "I'm sorry, I am deaf. Can you repeat that?" Pogo: Yagota neice DAG, a DAG. Nissan. Pulse nods, smiling. "Yes, he's been with me for a long time. He's a good boy." Pogo produces the whiskey from the bag she has, offering it to him, "Yantu?" Nightmare addresses everyone once they're inside the van, "So we should probably introduce ourselves. I'm Patty and the loudmouth is my cousin Oscar. We're from around here. What about you guys?" Pulse holds his hand up, shaking his head as he enters the van. "I don't think it's a good idea right now." Pulse introduces himself to Nightmare, Skin, etc ass-first in this fashion. Skin: Hey! I thought we were going by codenames. Way to blow it. Ikiryo looks up from his creepy mask staring, putting it back on the floor carefully. "Ikiryo." Nightmare scoffs at Skin and rolls her eyes. She looks at each of them as they speak. Maximo waits for everyone to pile into the van. He adjusts the steering column and driver's seat to his considerable size. "I am called Maximo. Boss man says I am the brawn around here." Max flexes his bicep. MUSCLE POWAAAAAH! Pogo gets into the van, after drinking from and stowing her whiskey, since Max is there. Maximo didn't see the whiskey. He's paying too much attention to his bulging bicep. Pulse missed the entire exchange up until now, unfortunately. But, he seems to get the idea after Max speaks, then thinks for a moment. "I... Call me Pulse. You'll see why." Skin glances at Ikiyro. "You guys always have the weirdest names. I like it." He raises his brow at Deafy McDeafster Byron sits next to Patty. "You can call me Byron, Miss. I go by Boost on account of my special talent." Ikiryo stares at Skin, entirely unsure of how to take that. Nightmare: What... can you do Mr. Boost? Byron? Max starts driving as soon as everyone is in the van. Byron goes on. "Well, if I touch someone with powers like ours. I can boost whatever they've got for maybe an hour or so. I've done it to Max, tell them Max." Maximo: It's true. I almost lift thousand pounds! Nightmare: Oh. Wow. Nightmare tenses her brow, idling wondering wtf that would do for her. Probably nothing good. Nightmare idly Pogo yawns. Pulse watches Byron for a moment. "Please never do that to me." Byron shakes his head. "I don't do it to anyone unless they ask me. It's just proper manners." The minutes go by weaving through late night LA traffic. Maximo stops the van in a lightly wooded and hilly area beneath the gaze of the famous HOLLYWOOD sign. Nightmare nods, "Or me." She smiles slightly afterward. Skin: I wonder what'd happen to me... Maximo: You turn green, Gumby. Nightmare laughs. Skin: Pfft. Can do already. Pulse nods, then glances at Nightmare, then Skin. "You could find out right now, but it could be dangerous." Byron slides the van door open and hops out into the night. Max does the same. The two start handing out flashlights. Skin: -But I'm not going to. Okay! So wolf man likes the woods? Skin takes a flashlight and flicks it on, shining it out into the darkness. Pulse slides a gold watch out of his pocket, holding it in his palm like a talisman. He studies his flashlight oddly before turning it on. Pogo shines her flashlight in someone's face, possibly on accident Boost: These aren't even proper woods. But it's the best he's got around here. Let's stay together and search slowly. He'll probably come looking for us. Pulse NOT BLIND. DEAF Helena: not blind yet but SOON Nightmare wills herself not to look at the light. Nightmare steps out of the van and takes a flashlight. Skin: HEY HAIRY! YOU OUT THERE? COME OUT, COME OUT, WHEREVER YOU ARE! Skin calls out casually as they trudge through the 'woods.' Maximo likes this idea. "DOGGY, WE COME LOOKING FOR YOU." Nightmare sighs and shakes her head. Ikiryo follows the others, only cringing a little bit at the shouting. Pogo stops to puke in a bush somewhere. Pulse: He'll feel threatened with you two shouting like that. Pogo chills out near the van, 'rinsing' her mouth out with whiskey Nightmare nods, "We have to be delicate. He is probably scared, so knock it off." Pulse: It should be a voice he knows, calling him by name. Pulse: Otherwise, we're strangers hunting him. The group stumbles upon a teenaged couple in the throes of some romantic encounter. Pulse shines his flashlight right on some peen. Pulse: Oh. Nightmare makes a face and looks away immediately. Pulse seems alarmed. The boy looks pissed. "What are you weirdos doing out here? You fucking perverts!" MJ (Pogo): that's two crotch shots for him in one game Nvalt (Nightmare): haha Pogo hears something rustling in the bushes near the van. Nightmare: We're sorry, we're looking for a friend of ours. We didn't mean to um... interrupt. Pulse doesn't, lol Nightmare doesn't look at the boy. Skin guffaws and gives him a thumbs up. "Just looking for a wolfman. Good job!" The teenager zips up. "FUCK YOU!" Pogo hides the whiskey, making a half-assed effort to adjusting her hair. Pogo mostly just ends up pushing her hair back The teens slink off with guilty faces. A large, shadowy form strides out of the woods towards her. He smells like vomit. MJ (Pogo): towards which her? Helena: Pogo Helena: my bad Pogo puts her hand out, "Ey doggy, where's your buddy?" Pogo must think Milou came along. Nvalt (Nightmare): daggy* MJ (Pogo): hahaha Pulse can't hear. Explores woods with flashlight, paying attention to things like grass, dirt, trees, leaves. Clive keeps closing in on her, he's got vomit on him. "I need a... I need a bite. " Ikiryo stares out into the forest a little bit too intently, shining the flashlight as he does. Nightmare turns around to wherever the voices are coming from, shining a flashlight in the direction. Nightmare: Mr. Clive...? Pogo sways a bit, asking distantly, "Issat you? C'monover." Boost calls out. "Clive?" Skin wanders around aimlessly searching. Wolfman here? Nope. Wolfman there? Nah. Wolfman anywhere? Who knows? Pulse gets a good look at the ground. "Something walked toward the van." Skin: Eh? Lead the way, man. Pulse: California's usually pretty arid, there's still the impression? Nightmare looks back at the others and follows Pulse. Clive pauses briefly when he hears the voices, clutching his face in his hands. "I need a bite. Please." He pleads with Pogo. Pogo: Bite? Pulse: Big person. Very heavy. Nvalt (Nightmare): brb Pulse sprints along the footprints. Pogo looks in the bag she has, stowing the whiskey. "Reckon I have a candy inere" Clive grabs Pogo's wrist forcefully and tries to bring it to his mouth. Pogo seems unbothered by a dog talking to her, but she does find that last part worrisome Clive manages to pull her pretty forcefully to him. This is why you don't get drunk before you hunt the wolfman. (Roll Athletics to break loose) Nvalt (Nightmare): back Skin runs with Pulse, trying to keep up. Nightmare runs too. Ikiryo Follows close behind Skin, looking back into the woods every now and then. Pogo yells bloody murder, like some boy's grabbed her at the applecart race. Pulse can't hear. Still follows dem printz. Nightmare looks horrified at the scream. Skin leaps way high into the air, towards the source of the scream. Pogo can't break loose. Clive bites down. She can see him clearly his face and body is covered in grey-black fur. His nose is darkened and leathery like a dog's nose. His teeth are...sadly still pretty human looking. The bite doesn't really do much more than leave a mark for the time being.. He keeps gnawing away. Pogo does her best to aim for the nads, as is the way of her people Pulse will reflexively fire a warning shot into Clive if he sees this while tracking. Skin: Hey! You can't just bite ladies, furball! Pogo kicks and fights, and then takes off whether the dogman is attached still or not Skin runs over to try to free Pogo from his grasp. He's not in fight-mode just yet. Pogo's kick to the nuts misses. It's dark and she's drunk. She rises into the air with Clive in tow. Clive let's go instinctively, dropping to the ground. Skin: -Oh. Wow. Skin is now grappling with Clive, he tries to bite down on HIM this time. Nightmare: Stop! Oscar get him to stop! Nightmare: Mr. Clive we're here to help you, please calm down! Pogo might land properly, but really it's anyone's guess. Skin: Relax, big guy! Calm down, we're gonna take you back to the Castle, alright? Byron comes running down the hill after the others. "Clive, It's my Byron. You've got to stop, mate!" Pulse fires to miss, but scatter dirt and shit impressively. Pulse does this by leveling a watch, then FAPPO a shockwave happens. Clive looks scared as shit now. He balls up defensively. "Please, please I just needed a bite." Skin: Uh. Well. That's pretty rude, man. Just relax and come with us, okay? Clive gets up onto his knees, pleading for mercy. "I can't stop. I have a problem. I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He has tears in his eyes. Pulse: You can't, or don't want to. Pulse watches Clive's response very carefully. Nightmare: It's okay, we're going to take care of you. Just stay put, okay? Despite the screaming, and presence of wolfman, Ikiryo makes a beeline into the woods, splitting off from the others. How terribly LAME of him. Boost holds his hand out to Clive. "It's alright. We're here. We're gonna take you home." Clive looks genuinely remorseful about his behaviour. "I won't, can't. It's getting too hard." Pulse: Why not chew gum. A burst of machine-gun fire rings out into the night. It just narrowly misses Ikiryo. Pulse can't hear. Pogo shows up, covered in dirt and grass, clothes askew. "Hey guys... anyone seemashoo?" Nightmare goes white at the sound of the machine-gun fire. She nearly drops her flashlight. Skin: What the fu- Pogo stops at the gunfire and hits the ground Skin also hits the ground because these things happen. Pogo: WHUMP Pulse points at the shoe, then turns to see if he can spot what everyone's freaking out over, crouching. Nightmare seems to be frozen in place. Skin: PATTY! HIT THE DECK! Pogo: IYAM! Skin: NOT YOU! Ikiryo sprints towards the source of the gunshot, looking mighty angry and determined. Pogo: NOYOU! Nightmare shivers before practically falling to the ground with a thud. She curls up into a ball. Tiny red lights flick on everywhere in the woods around the gang. Ikiryo sees three more sets of the lights in the woods ahead of him.All around them are masked men holding guns, their bright white tunics stick out against the night. It's a goddamn AMBUSH. Pulse gonna blow this shit up you guys TO BE CONTINUED. Next Episode: Don't drink the SILENCE kool-aid. Also, Pogo throws up some more. Category:Session Logs